Question Windows 10 OEM key Activation in another country

[peterpanm]

Hi, My brother just send me Dell Laptop from Canada with Windows 10 1809 Home (OEM Activated), I want to install a fresh copy of Windows 10 1803 Pro (formatting hard drive) which I download from Microsoft website (ISO).
will my windows 10 1803 activated if I install a fresh copy (in the same machine) here in my country (Pakistan) without providing his Microsoft account credentials?
I read that now OEM keys are associated with Microsoft account and only activates after providing MS account credentials? thank you

 

[mdd1963]

You will not be able to activate a new Pro install without a valid key, and, certainly providing an OEM key linked to a previous Dell OEM Win 10 Home install will not work....

Do you actually need the two or three features unique to Pro? (Bitlocker encryption, Hyper-V, higher RAM limit, etc..)

 

[peterpanm]

thanks for reply, no I do not need those features. so it means that i can install a fresh copy of WINDOWS 10 HOME AGAIN and it will be activated with the key stored in BIOS/motherboard or if i use tools like "produkey-x64 or ShowKeyPlus" to get the key?
Microsoft Independent Advisors said that the key is not associated with Microsoft User, it's in BIOS/motherboard and windows 10 Pro will work as well but some said the opposite.

 

[Colif]

look in settings/update & security/activation'

If next to activation it says Windows is activated with a digital license , then your licence is currently tied to your motherboard

If it says Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account., then your licence is linked to an email address that your user might be linked to now.

Either way, you don't need to know your key. It is stored on a Microsoft server and the PC will check the server once windows 10 is installed. The only difference is you may want to use the email address and password associated with it to ensure PC remains activated once you reinstall 10.

when you install and reach screen asking for licence, you click "I don't have a key" and win 10 will continue to install and only once finished will it check the servers. This choice was set up this way because almost everyone who updated from 7 or 8 doesn't have a key but does have an activated version of 10.

 

[peterpanm]

thanks Colif for a brief reply, I will check that Dell laptop tomorrow, I'm using another laptop right now. I'll install windows 10 Home later.